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Wednesday, 8 January 2014

Romanisches Café Berlin

This café is in many ways inspirational for the Creative
Café Project. It was a meeting place for artists. I’ve featured it in the
biography I’m writing of Clara Lehrs. She was a frequent visitor to this café
and she was, by race at least if not by religion, Jewish. At the time she was
visiting it in the 1920s it was a simple, plainly furnished place that offered
an uncomplicated menu. It was below her normal level of elegance: she
was at that time if not exactly wealthy a comfortably provided for widow.

A politically charged
atmosphere

Clara was an intelligent if poorly educated woman and it was
possibly the political debates that attracted her: she wasn’t particularly a
political creature – at one point she didn’t even know who Hitler was and had
to research him at the local library. Nevertheless, she found what went on here
fascinating.

As early as 1927 the café was under attack from the Nazis
and when they came to power most of the regulars emigrated. It stopped being an
artists’ café. The Romanische Haus, in which it was situated, was destroyed by
an air-raid in 1943.

The resurrection

Today a typical modern German café with the same name is situated
in the Waldorf Astoria, Berlin.

It is designed to be this café resurrected.

At first
sight it may appear to have lost much of its “creativeness”. But as you look
carefully at pictures of it you will notice that newspapers and books are available
for the public to read. Thus it offers activities that enable cafés to label themselves
“creative”. The café’s own web site invites creative visitors. “Jetzt wurde
die historische, inspirierende Berliner Caféhauskultur des Romanischen Cafés
vom Waldorf Astoria Berlin wieder zum Leben erweckt: als Treffpunkt in
einladender, zwangloser und moderner Atmosphäre, wo Gäste und Einheimische
entspannen, arbeiten oder mit Freunden plaudern können.” Now the historic,
inspiring Berlin coffee house culture of the Romaisches Café of the Waldorf
Astoria, Berlin, is brought to life again:
as a meeting place in an inviting, stress-free and modern atmosphere where
guests and residents can relax, work or chat with friends.”

The challenge

Creative café fans: if you’re in Berlin, visit
this café and bring it back to first principles. Make it a truly creative café by
your presence. Many reviewers complain of indifferent food and high prices.
Customers influence and creative ones should be able to do this quite well. Go
rent a table, work, write and / or put the world right there.